UNFCCC and Climate Politics after COP15

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This policy brief reviews the dismal (albeit unofficial) results of the 2009 climate summit contained in the Copenhagen Accord, and raises questions about the Accord’s implications to the multilateral climate process going forward. The paper finds that the unequal, growth-/profit-centered economic model—and the intractable commitment by major polluting economies and their elites thereto—as the main ecological and political obstacle to securing strong and just action towards climate stability. To address this, this paper proposes that, instead of being abandoned, the international climate effort under the UNFCCC must be upheld and broadened to include a transition to an alternative model of development based both on equity and sustainability.